PAUL DAVIES - Sophie Gannon Gallery · 2017. 11. 20. · The landscapes in Paul Davies’ paintings appear simultaneously idyllic and disjointed, as if lifted from a vacation or real

The landscapes in Paul Davies’ paintings appear simultaneously idyllic and disjointed, as if lifted from a vacation or real estate advertisement then cut up and reconfigured. He first documents the selected subject photographically, edits this image and collages it with others onto the canvas with the use of various screens. Through this formal approach, the outline of each subject and its colour outweighs the importance of the subject itself. Using these screens as templates to mirror, invert and crop subjects in various artificial colours, Davies plays on the idea that a photographic negative can be manipulated to tell different ‘truths’.

Recurring in these works is tension between built and natural environments, the rationality of modern architecture contrasts with the freedom of landscape and water. Davies layers these subjects like filters to disrupt the order of the architecture, blending with form and colour what is natural and what is made.

The structure provided by the photographic screens is counterpointed with gestural marks made with loose brushwork and colour washes to produce a mix of real, edited and collaged imagery. What emerges from a personal experience is a visual diary of images that suggest surveillance, voyeurism and desire.

The photograms also included in this exhibition were made by exposing sunlight through a stencil onto paper painted with light sensitive liquid. The stencil was then laid over pieces of painted paper during different times of day. After a period of minutes (or hours overnight) the exposed sections of paper discoloured, the stencil was then removed and the negative image of the subject revealed.

Referring to Frank Lloyd Wright’s notion of ‘organic architecture’ the stencil provided a way in which to reduce the detail of the subject and blend what is architecture and what is landscape. Although the stencil repeated the same image everyday, each copy is unique. This was due to the natural exposure process and hand-brushed application of the light sensitive liquid onto the paper. In an age in which digital imagery is easily spread and authorship often obscured, this process aimed to blur what is original and what is reproduction.

SOPHIE GANNON GALLERY2 Albert Street Richmond VIC 3121 Australia Telephone +613 9421 [email protected] www.sophiegannongallery.com.au

PAUL DAVIESLIFE STILLS25 OCT – 12 NOV 2016

PAUL DAVIESForest flip, 2015

acrylic and vinyl acrylic copolymer on linen 122 x 92 cm

$12,000.00 incl. G.S.T.

PAUL DAVIESUntitled 1, 2016


$12,000.00 incl. G.S.T.



$12,000.00 incl. G.S.T.



$12,000.00 incl. G.S.T.



$12,000.00 incl. G.S.T.


acrylic and vinyl acrylic copolymer on canvas 122 x 91 cm

$12,000.00 incl. G.S.T.



$12,000.00 incl. G.S.T.



$12,000.00 incl. G.S.T.



$12,000.00 incl. G.S.T.



$12,000.00 incl. G.S.T.



$12,000.00 incl. G.S.T.



$16,000.00 incl. G.S.T.



$16,000.00 incl. G.S.T.



$20,000.00 incl. G.S.T.



$20,000.00 incl. G.S.T.

PAUL DAVIESView through a lens at Taliesin West, photogram #17, 9.43am, 4 mins exposure onto solar panels, mostly sunny, 2016

gum bichromate and vinyl acrylic copolymer on paper 45.5 x 60.5 cm

$3,800.00 incl. G.S.T.

PAUL DAVIESView through a lens at Taliesin West, photogram #18, 8.45am, 10 mins exposure at student shelter, 18 degrees, mostly cloudy, 2016


$3,800.00 incl. G.S.T.

PAUL DAVIESView through a lens at Taliesin West, photogram #2, 8.47am, sunny 6 degrees, made between student residencies and atrium studio and

apprentice court, 2016 gum bichromate and vinyl acrylic copolymer on paper

45.5 x 60.5 cm

$3,800.00 incl. G.S.T.

PAUL DAVIESView through a lens at Taliesin West, photogram #7, 10.31 am, 17 degrees, 7 mins exposure in pool outside Cornelia Briely studio, 2016


$3,800.00 incl. G.S.T.

PAUL DAVIESView through a lens at Taliesin West, photogram #1, 7 mins exposure, 11 degrees, light sprinkle of rain, made in car park, 2016


$3,800.00 incl. G.S.T.

PAUL DAVIESView through a lens at Taliesin West, photogram #13, 27 degrees, partly cloudy, exposure 12 mins, 1.17pm outside ceramics studio, 2016


$3,800.00 incl. G.S.T.

PAUL DAVIESEDUCATION2014 Masters of Fine Arts (by research), College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, Sydney2006 Painting Masterclass, National Art School, Sydney,2000 Bachelor of Fine Arts, College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, Sydney

SOLO EXHIBITIONS2016 Life Stills, Sophie Gannon Gallery, Melbourne

24 Photograms, Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, Phoenix, USA Hollywood Stills, The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong Paul Davies, Art16, The Cat Street Gallery, London, UK Southern Exposure, Art District 13, Delhi, India

2015 Devoid of Sensation, Heather James Gallery, Los Angeles, USA Other Desert Spaces, Olsen Irwin Gallery, Sydney

2014 Built in Translation, The Fine Art Society, London, UK Built in Translation II, Art District 13 Gallery, Delhi, India Pastiche: A lens through which to view the present, College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, Sydney Other Desert Spaces: Paul Davies and George Byrne, The Standard, Los Angeles, USA Switching Utopia, Sophie Gannon Gallery, Melbourne

2013 Flattening Sublime, Cite Internationale des Arts, Paris, France Flattening Sublime, Olsen Irwin Gallery, Sydney

2012 Pentimento, Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney2011 Void, The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong

Portraits, Tim Olsen Gallery at Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne Portraits, Gold Coast City Regional Art Gallery, Gold Coast, QLD

2010 Hanmer, Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney Modern Home, Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery, London, UK

2009 New Paintings, Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney Re-Constructions, The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong

GROUP EXHIBITIONS2016 Public Trust, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA

McClelland Collection, McClelland Gallery and Sculpture Park, Melbourne2015 Oberoi Collection (curated by Kapil Chopra), Delhi

Summer Season, Heather James Fine Art, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA Winter Season (curated by Chip Tom), Heather James Fine Art, Palm Desert, USA Works on Paper, China Heights Gallery, Sydney

2014 Melbourne Art Fair, Sophie Gannon Gallery, Melbourne Summer Season, Heather James Fine Art, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA Winter Season, Heather James Fine Art, Palm Desert, USA Signal 8: Salon Show, The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong

2013 Natural Selection, The Fine Art Society Contemporary, London, UK Reflections - The M Collection, Exhibition Dianne Tanzer Gallery, Melbourne Signal 8: Salon Show, The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong Sydney Contemporary, Olsen Irwin Gallery, Sydney Pulse Art Fair Miami, Fine Art Society Contemporary, London, UK

2012 Wild Australia, Yen Reis Gallery, Singapore Melbourne Art Fair, Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney Hampton’s Art Fair, Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery, London, UK Pat Corrigan: Art Collector, Maitland Regional Art Gallery, Maitland, NSW Signal 8: Salon Show, The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong Wattle, The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong

2011 Evocatecture, Heather James Fine Art Gallery, Los Angeles, USA Heat, Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney Self Portraits (curated by Paul Davies), China Heights Gallery, Sydney Hamptons Art Fair, Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery, London, UK Art London, Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery, London, UK Hong Kong International Art Fair, The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong Toronto International Art Fair, Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery, London, UK A Summer Survey, Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney

2010 Miscellanea, Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney Art Chicago, Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery, London, UK Hamptons Art Fair, Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery, London, UK Structural Through-Line (Coherence), Lawrence Asher Gallery, Los Angeles, USA San Francisco Art Fair, Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery, London, UK LA Art Show, Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery, London, UK London Art Fair, Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery, London, UK Melbourne Art Fair, Tim Olsen Gallery, Sydney Dragon Garden, The Cat Street Gallery, Hong Kong

RESIDENCIES AND AWARDS2016 Taliesin Artist Residency Program, Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA

Chippendale New World Art Prize (Highly Commended)2013 Art Gallery of New South Wales, Cite des Arts Studio Residency, Paris, France

Fleurieu Art Prize (finalist) Yering Station Art Prize (finalist) Arnold Bloch Leibler Art Prize (finalist) Albany Art Prize (finalist)

2012 Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, Sydney (finalist)2011 NSW Parliament Plein Air Painting Prize (finalist)2010 The King’s School Art Prize (finalist)2009 Royal Bank of Scotland Australian Emerging Artist Award (finalist)2008 ABN-AMRO Emerging Artist Award (finalist)2001 Photography Prize, TNT Magazine, London (winner)

PUBLICATIONSHuffington Post, Architecture Review, W Magazine Online, Wallpaper* Online, Financial Times UK, Asian Art News, Vogue British, Australian Financial Review, ArtWorld, Hindustan Times, Vogue Living, Harper’s Bazaar, The Asian Age, Verve Magazine, The Indian Express, The Hindu, Belle, InsideOut, GQ UK, GQ Australia, Art & Australia, Urbis, Black Magazine, Yen Magazine, The Sydney Morning Herald–Spectrum, WISH Magazine–The Australian, Sunday Arts ABC, Studio SBS, 55 Pages, The Wall Art Magazine

COLLECTIONSArtbank, SydneyBond University, Gold CoastBYL Companies, USACentral Coast Grammar School, Erina, NSWGold Coast City Art Gallery, Gold Coast, QLDHistoric Houses Trust, SydneyKerry Stokes Collection, PerthLexus, AustraliaMacquarie University, SydneyMaitland Regional Gallery, Maitland, NSWMcClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery, MelbournePatrick Corrigan Collection, AustraliaRothschild, USAScottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Scottsdale, Arizone, USAStockland, AustraliaWilson & Hill Architects, New Zealand



Documents

PAUL DAVIES - Sophie Gannon Gallery · 2017. 11. 20. · The landscapes in Paul Davies’ paintings appear simultaneously idyllic and disjointed, as if lifted from a vacation or real